Stop Suddenly
by We oughta buy you a Cadillac
Summary: Claire's life as it takes an unfortunate twist. Character Deaths.
1. Chapter 1

Ugh! I am so pissed off, I don't even want to talk about it. Just, ugh! I guess I should start from the beginning. Stephanie (my ex-bff) was having a party. We're talking serious party of the year material. And the day of, I am about ready to get picked up by my friends when my parents decide that I can't go because they think this town is bad. I am like, uhh, fuck that shit! I want to go to the party! But, I reason that if they go to bed soon, I can sneak out just in time for my friends to pick me up before it's halfway over.

-

I think they are going to bed soon, hah. And they don't even know what their little angel daughter is planning. My parents are like in love with me, they don't even think I'm the bad kid at all, just because I'm cunning and know how to blame it on my brother. It's not like he cares. He's only a little brat anyway, he can only be like, what, ten? No, I'm just kidding, he's 14. I, Claire Lyons, am currently 16 and a half. Hah, take that Todd! Enough of that, I quickly slip out of my shoes, prepared to sneak out. I maneuver myself down the stairs gracefully (HAH!) and I make one foot out the door before I hear a stomping noise on the steps and turn around to face my ogre of a brother.

"Todd, don't you dar--" Before I could finish that sentence my brother screeches (hah, puberty my ass) for Mom and Dad to come here because Claire is trying to run away. I shout a few cuss words at Todd, still not sure if I called him an asshat or not (Note to self: use that word more). So, I get in trouble for my foul language and for trying to sneak out. My parents said me to my room, a steady stream of curses escaping my lips, which once again reminds me I wasted some of my limited edition lip gloss! FUCK! Todd, oh younger brother dear, YOU ARE SO DEAD TO ME.

-

It is currently three o'clock in the morning, and I just snuck outside into the car garage picking out my dad's favorite shiny car, I keyed it making sure to imitate Todd's handwriting perfectly when I wrote, "Todd rules, fool!". Ah, life is good.

-

Okay, so this is a week later, but it's cool, it's cool. I am currently writing this from my plane, three more hours to New York, wooh! Okay, hah, I'll explain. My parents saw my masterpiece, I am so proud of it!, and THEY TOTALLY FLIPPED THEIR SHIT. Dude it was hilarious. Judi (my mom) has always hated LA, so she used this as a perfect example of how bad this city was! Influencing her babies like that! So my parents decided to haul ass to Westchester, Winchester, where ever because apparently a family friend lives their. Some family friend, I don't know who he is. It's only me on the plane because Judi thinks that my brother should be in LA for a little longer, doing some community service on the highways, like the real delinquent he is. They'll be joining me a week later, or so. it'll be the day I start school then. Todd would be flying with me while my parents go over something with other people, blah, but he has to stay behind because of my genius plans. Heh. They said they'd be scheduled to arrive just in time for me to leave. A little jet lagged but for the most part okay. I am apparently supposed to meet Massie, the guys daughter. Bah, I bet she's stuck up.

-

School starts for me tomorrow. It's kind of sad making (I've been reading Uglies lately, guilty!) to know I'll have to start all over again. So I'm living in this hotel till the 'rents get here, then we'll move into this friend's guest house (ew.) for awhile before we can afford a place of our own. Lemme tell ya, this hotel is pretty much the life of luxury, it's completely 100% fabulous. Wait! Dude! School is tomorrow?! Shit, I have to go shopping!

That's always fun, right?

-

I totally just owned the shit out of that mall. I am quite pleased with my findings. Lots of black, very slimming! Very cute things, I went to a lot of new places we didn't have in my town, it was cool seeing the new stores. Dude! It's already 11:30? Shit! I have to get to bed or else I'll be, like, way tired for school (insert groan here) tomorrow. Peace out freedom, hello school!

-

Just before I left I decided to check my cell phone. What do you know, a voice mail!

"Claire! Claire, it's me, Miranda, your parent's driver! Listen, there was an accident! There was some ice on the road where we were at and there was a semi," -heavy breathing here- "it...it's terrible. There's a jet your parents own being sent your way, along with a new driver." There was silence here. "_Claire, they don't think he's going to make it._"

Oh God, oh God, oh God.

-

Trying my hand at serious stories, the main character is obviously Claire, heh. She's my favorite, but there will be other characters. Massie, Alicia, Dylan, Kristen, Josh, Cam, and a Derrington is doubtful. Maybe pairings, maybe not, I haven't decided yet. So, who should be Claire's friend, Alicia or Dylan? Just out of curiosity, if enough people want one person that works for me, if not, I'll pick. I plan to update soon enough, I've got the whole idea in my head. Sorry this chapter was so short, hah.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter One._

_  
I have become who I hope that you were  
But I'd tear out my two eyes for one chance to bring you back here  
It's not that far to the hospital  
Just say you'll take me, and I'll be happy  
_The Hospital- And Then There Were None

My blood ran cold at the thought of not being with my family. At the thought of them suffering. At the thought that EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY WAS IN A CAR CRASH. I quickly rushed to the bathroom, throwing up. I stayed there for five minutes, just sobbing my heart out before I got a text that the driver was here. I quickly grabbed a tin of mints, my almost dead cell phone, and ran out of the hotel, whipping on some sunglasses so no one could see my bloodshot eyes and the tears.

Five hours later and no call, I'm wondering which _he_ they don't think is going to make it. I'm running to the hospital doors now, prepared to see my family, the tears burning my eyes. I hold back a sob as the driver comes up behind me and begs the Nurse to show us where the Lyons family is. She nods her head grimly and leads us up the stairs, we walked in silence until we approached room B57. The nurse looked at us and said, "Your mother and father are in a stable condition, when the accident happened they happened to be in the front..."

That's not all I need to know! I yelled this at her, and she shifted the weight from one foot to the next. "Your brother... He... he doesn't have a high chance of surviving. The semi did a lot of damage, and hit him the most. They think he'll have until night or so."

My eyes widened, I could feel them instantly filling with tears, my vision blurring. My...my brother? A sob ripped through my body, and I fell to my knees. My brother, holy fucking shit, my brother! What did he do to the world? My breathing was getting faster and faster, my sobs getting louder, people were looking at me in the hallway, but I was too far gone to care. How could the world still be moving?! How could these people be living normal lives when my brother is dying? It was outrageous, sickening, and I wanted to tell them stop it. I wanted them to feel this! Why am I the only one suffering?

Wait... he still has a chance... I can still be with him. Nobody would kill my little brother, would they? God wouldn't take a boy who hasn't lived long enough to do anything wrong? I rushed past the nurse, into the room. There, in the very far corner was my brother, hardly looking like it. Tubes coming out of his nose, snaking around his body, and the color... he was too pale! He was practically white. "T-todd.." There was so much I wanted to say but couldn't. "I'm sorry." The worst part was knowing I caused this. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't keyed the damn car... You wouldn't be dyi...dying." The word was foul in my mouth, and my throat locked up when I tried to say it. I scrunched up my face, to stop from crying, knowing in me that he doesn't like when I cry.

"Claire." I heard the voice behind me, my parents voice, they were just fine, with the exception of a few cuts and my mom had a broken arm. I didn't say anything to them, just ran to them and cried my heart out.

-

Sometime later the doctor came in and told us that death was inescapable, mom and I started howling, and Dad was doing his best to not letting us see him cry. He also added that we should be glad that not all of us died. I promptly told him to shut the fuck up, he wasn't saying anything I cared about. I would have rather died than Todd, even though I wasn't even in the car.

Doesn't that seem fair? It is my fault that he's dying... Oh God, oh God, what should I tell my parents? My eyes widened even more, tears filling up, I fucked up big time. I wanted to get angry! I wanted to beat the shit out of Todd for getting in that car crash. I absolutely wanted to kill him (okay, poor choice of words) for doing this to me! We were like SBFF (secret best friends forever)! I felt the sobs coming out of me again, and I stifled them. My parents didn't have to see me like this.

Wait; lemme rephrase, they didn't want to see me like this.

But then again, this isn't about me. This is about death, this is about loss, this is about wishing it were you instead. It hurts me to know that Mom and Dad are probably blaming themselves for the crash, despite it being my fault. If I hadn't keyed the car, Todd would have came home with me, if he had come home with me he wouldn't have been in this crash. Then, and only then, did I fully realize the impact of my mistakes. Just because I had to be a fucking bitch and get revenge _I killed my brother_. I felt like vomiting again. The worst thing was wanting to be there with him, be in his room, but feeling too guilty to even walk into the room, which explained where I was now, inside the bathroom stalls, the sobs from me echoing around the room. I don't even know how awkward that makes people feel if they pull open the door. I don't care.

After a little bit my sobbing stopped, my breathing still heavy. I heard the door open up and as I looked through the slits in the door, I could see it was two nurses. "Did you hear about the boy in B57? That just breaks my heart." It was the nurse in the stereotypical green/blue scrubs. Well, she doesn't even want to know how much it breaks _my_ heart.

"Oh, don't I know. Did you know his sister isn't even in there with him? She left him. When he's dying, how insensitive!" I bit my lip to stop from crying, I knew I was being weak staying here instead of being in my brothers room, but did you really have to remind me?

-

At 10:00 the doctors were considering it a miracle that my brother is still alive, I had returned to the room, but my eyes are shut tight, and I can still here the beeping of the machine as it breaths for my brother.

At 10:11 They think they might be able to save him if he can just last until morning.

At 10:15, my brother dies. My younger brother, my family, dies. Just taken away from me, my whole life changed in less then a day. Is that possible? Is it really possible that God would do this to someone? I was the only one who wasn't crying. Truth be told, I was done crying. So totally and completely over it. I'm too busy realizing what a _bitch_ I am too people! It took the death of my brother to realize that I am a truly terrible person. If I hadn't been so set on revenge... W-wait. Am I... Am I a murder? Does this count as murder? Why oh, God, why?

-

It is currently the next day, and, _no_, it was not a dream. My parents had all been allowed off work until they felt they were okay to come back. I don't even know if my mom works, but whatever. I didn't really get out of bed much. I just stayed in bed for about six hours, switching positions every two.

Do you know how much I hate the sun? A lot. It is just pissing me off. It's bright, it's happy, I don't want to be bright and happy, so just piss off, sun. God. Oh Lord, I'm going off on a sun.

Am I supposed to tell my parents about the keying thing? Will they blame me? _Am_ I to blame from this? Ugh, I am starting to think Todd got off lucky, y'know, dying. Then I can't believe I said that, and I wish I could slap myself. Some people are normal, some people are sick. Guess I'm the last one.

I was currently at the hotel all by myself, my parents were out doing who knows what. But I couldn't get this out of my head, I was to blame for Todd's death, but should I tell my parents? I mean, how much would it hurt them? Was it _really_ the right thing to do when it would hurt them so much?

I have decided that the second my parents get home I would tell them... maybe. I chewed on my lip, wondering if it was what I should do. I didn't have much more time to think because soon after I heard the sound of a door being pushed open. I rolled myself off the bed and walked to my Mom who was shaking rain off her leather jacket. "Hey, Mom..."

"Hey, Claire. I just talked to the school... You're scheduled to start two days from now. I had to talk to them about... Todd so it's all taken care of." My mom gave me a sad smile. "The school is pretty, though. Your brother would have loved it, you know how loves... _loved_ fountains."

I tried to laugh but my throat was dry. "Mom, I have to talk to you about Todd." My voice cracked when I tried to say his name. My heart was pounding, wondering if I could really do this to my mom. I could tell from her red rimmed eyes that she had been crying in the car and she was trying to be strong for me. "Mom, you know how Todd keyed the car?"

My mom's face was blank and she was just staring at me, probably wondering why I wanted to bring this up. "W-well... he didn't. I keyed the car because I was mad he caught me." I paused, squeezing my eyes shut, not wanting to look at my mom as I said this last part. "If I hadn't done that, Todd would have come with me, and wouldn't have been in the car." I was now, looking down at the floor I heard a shuffling noise before looking up with worried eyes and see my mom getting up from her spot and heading into her room, shutting the door as quietly as possible.

The feeling in my gut told me what I just did was a mistake.

-

Mom stayed in her room for the rest of the day and dad didn't come home until 11:00, and I could smell alcohol on him. I didn't say anything as I watched him stubble and kick off his shoes in the general direction of the shoe pile. He shrugged off his jacket and opened the room he shared with mom. He stood there for a few seconds before he screamed. Possibilities were running through my mind and I jumped off the couch running to my dad. There he was gasping, his face turning white his body obstructing my view into the room. I shrugged past him and saw something else I caused.

My mom was laying spread across the bed, in one hand a some cheap alcohol and in the other an empty bottle of pills. I screamed and passed out.

-

I woke up on the couch once again with a thick, itchy blanket thrown over me and a pillow. It was 3 o'clock in the morning and there were police in the apartment. One was talking to dad, tossing around words like suicide. Dad was crying, rubbing his head, and I noticed that in two days he looked a lot older. I looked at myself, what do I look like now? As bad as my dad? ....As bad as my mom? Oh, right. She's dead. I killed her, too, didn't I? I sighed, finding it not in me to cry. I guess in a way, it's not like me. I was the strong one, well now I would have to be.

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard someone call my name. I looked in their direction, my silvery blond hair partially covering my view. I shook it out of the way and said, "yeah?". It was a police man and he handed me a note.

"Can you explain this? It was left by your mom that we found." I was considering the possibilities and I'm sure my face turned white (or green) as I took the note. It was written on those little pads of papers hotels give you, the name proudly declaring a St. Regis logo. On it was something that would probably haunt me for the rest of my life, if I had to guess.

_Blame Claire._

Oh my God.

I feel like throwing up and I have to swallow repeatedly before I can feel better. I just keep gasping, wondering what had happened to my life. What am I supposed to say? I decide to do one thing, praying that my years of acting in school plays will pay off. "I-i... I have no idea what she's talking about." Then I put my head into my hands sniffling and whimpering loudly despite the fact that my eyes feel as dry as always.

The police officer pats my shoulder and says, "It's okay kid, you can make it through this." Then he walks away, calling the other police officers out of the hotel, no more work for them to do here. I didn't even talk to dad though I could see him glaring at me. He's probably read the letter.

-

I don't wake up again until 2'o clock in the afternoon, I don't feel like getting up but I don't feel like staying in this confined hotel. I step out of the comfy nest that is my couch, thinking of everything but what had happened in the last two days, I felt like my mind would cave in. I slid into my room, and looked at the clothes I had bought for school. Tch, one more day until I have to go to school. Joy. I guess it kind of is a good thing. It'll give me something else to think about, right? Right. I then pulled open my closet, and looked at the clothes, I ripped some dark skinny jeans off the hanger, pulling them up my legs before grabbing a yellow tank with a sun and a rainbow on it, then grabbing my tight pink sweater over that. I reached over to my old pants and retrieved my credit card out of it. A little retail therapy never hurt anyone.


	3. Chapter 3

_We are young  
We are far  
Born in this world as it all falls apart  
We are strong  
We don't belong  
Born in this world as it all falls apart  
We will fight or we will fall  
Till the angels save us all _

Young- Hollywood Undead

-

-

-

I was not in any mood to talk to anybody, but then again... who would be? The normally talkative me was pushed to the side, replaced with someone who was much too busy not caring about anything. And truly, that's what I've decided. With my brother dead, I was just depressed, but with mom dead, I figured I better shut the fuck up and keep to myself. It's a little strange for me to admit that I had killed my brother and Mother in indirect ways, it left a funny taste in my mouth.

My dad hasn't said anything, and after checking my cell I confirm that he hasn't text me either. Not surprising, I don't think he'll be talking to me much before he figures out (or thinks he's figured out) Mom's little mention of me in her odd little suicide note. As soon as I stepped out of the hotel the loud honks brought me down to earth, back down to the dirty streets and obnoxious people. I carefully placed my feet one in front of the other, not confident in my ability to not trip and fall into the oncoming traffic.

I shoved past some people all scurrying to get where they need to be. I wish I had a place where I needed to be, hey wait!, even better. I wish I had a place where I _could_ be now. I looked around for a moment, taking my eyes off my red flats and looked up at the surrounding signs, proudly blaring their restaurants/store/whatever 's name. Nothing was attracting my attention until I just barely the sign that pointed out the direction to the Mall, and I remembered the reason why I had set out in the first place, anyway. I jogged to the entrance, going as fast as I dared to go with my level of exhaustion The first stop would definitely be coffee, this was for sure. I pushed through the door, and I pulled my hair into a low ponytail, my blue eyes closed for a second as I remembered what it was like to be a person without a care in the world.

The mall was very posh, I could tell from the people in it already, college kids with huge sunglasses, their arms filled with bags from the kinds of stores I shop at sometimes. I looked down at my outfit and worried slightly that I was dressed to casually for this place. Then I snorted, who thinks that about a mall? I breathed heavily, inhaling the scent of the mall. I could smell Auntie Anne's pretzels, my mouth practically started drooling, but I looked past it, too easily tempted by the sight of a Starbucks, my throat was craving some caffeine.

I strolled down the short walk, noticing a group of college aged boys joking around near there. I rolled my eyes, my normal self would go up there to talk to them, but right now I didn't want to do anything except sulk, miss, whine, and agonize over my losses, I blinked my eyes fast, hoping to get rid of the tears that were appearing in my eyes, I quickly wiped them, sniffling, hoping no one noticed. My eyeliner smudged a bit, but I persevered, pushing forward into the shop, my taste buds tingling at the smell. The barista looked bored, but perked up at the prospect of a new customer. "Caramel Macchiato," I said, unwinding my ipod from one of my pockets. I pulled out my credit card and a little while later I was enjoying my nice drink. I sat down in the booths, taking small sips of my drink.

It was delicious, but not even the drink could distract me. I felt like I was drowning, the pressure overwhelming, new school, brother died, mother died, I'd rather not think about anything. I slipped my ear buds in, trying to distract myself from the pain of thinking. I chanted lyrics to the song blaring from my iPod, the flashes of my dead mother and brother, were slowly leaving my head with every word from the song. I glanced down at my iPod screen that had a crack down the middle of it from when I kind-of-but-not-quite slammed the car door on it. The song playing was Don't Stop by InnerPartySystem, I swallowed, Todd had showed me this song.

I pressed repeat this time mumbling the words closing my eyes. A few seconds later I felt a shadow above me, and I cracked an eye open. There, smiling at me, was one of those boys from earlier who appeared to be college aged. He was cute, I would admit, with dark hair that was a little long, but not shoulder long and warm dark brown eyes. "What are you listening to?" He even had a nice voice, very smooth. He dressed pretty fashionably with a button up shirt, a blazer, and the ever so stylish skinny jeans for men. I'm pretty sure he saw me checking him out but I couldn't care less, honestly.

"Don't Stop." I replied tersely, hoping he would go away. He was cute and all, but this is my time. This is Claire's time to be sad, not to be hit on by stupid college boys. Even if they were hot. "I would appreciate it if you would go away, please."

He acted as if he were offended and hurt but I could tell he was kidding, "She wounds me!" He then laughed at his own joke and I did my best to not smile. "But, seriously, what's with you? You're just in the corner of _Starbucks_," He waved his arms for emphasis, as if I didn't know what this place was called, "And you look like your cat just died."

"It's a bit worse than that," I said to him, with a half smile, not finishing the sentence. It's not like he really cares anyway, just some random pretty boy (_and he is pretty_) trying to pick up a girl. "Besides, what are you doing, skipping class?"

"I could say the same for you. What school do you go to? Better yet, what's your name? My name's Josh." He grinned at me again, and slid out the chair that was in front of me. He looked at my drink noting, "Did you like pick the girliest drink here, or something?"

"You sound like a fucking stalker."

"Is that any way for a lady to speak? You sound like you're a homeless person." Josh said this while chuckling at me, I stared at him. I hope he didn't notice, he certainly doesn't need an ego trip, but c'mon, the boy (man?) is gorgeous.

"Well aren't you quite the nice boy." I said, with a dull voice. I took another sip of my drink, idly wondering where the rest of Josh's pack went. I voiced this to him.

"Who sounds like a stalker now, huh? But it's cool, they had classes to go to, leaving poor me all alone. Which brings us back to you, Sunshine."

I paused at my drink. "Sunshine?" I looked at him weird, wondering where the hell he pulled that nickname out of.

He took his sweet time answering, making a grab for drink before I glared at him, and he retreated his hand. "Okay," He paused, "I'll tell you if you give me a sip of your drink."

"You could very easily have AIDS. I prefer living the clean life style." Or as clean as I used to be. Which, really, wasn't all that clean.

"You can't get AIDS from sharing drinks."

"What if you have swine flu?"

"Uh... Can you get swine flu from sharing drinks?" He looked at me puzzled. I just shrugged at him, hell if I know. When I turned my head to see if a lady had dropped something when she walked by, Josh reached out with his hand and grabbed my drink, taking a small sip. There was a pause before he said, "That's actually pretty good."

"Hey!" I said, still shocked he did it that fast. I settled down, all of my ideas of enjoying a nice relaxing time at Starbucks was forgotten, I could see it definitely wasn't happening. "Now you have to tell me why you picked the name Sunshine."

"Because you are wearing yellow." He said simply.

I looked at him, "Seriously? That's retarded."

He quickly defended his answer, "Your hair is also blond."

I snorted, flicking my bangs back, "Aren't you so creative?"

"I didn't have much to work with, you didn't give me your name, I had to come up with something from the little you were giving me." I had to agree with this, and he nodded smugly. "But! Even after all this, it does not explain why you are sitting here, all alone, on a perfectly fine _school day._"

"You aren't in school either. Besides, I don't start high school until tomorrow." I said glumly.

I noted after I said this he looked surprised, his eyes widening. He jumped up, put his hands up. "Oh no, jail bait! Where's Chris Hanson, I don't want to be on To Catch A Predator!" I knew he was joking, it was pretty easy to tell but a part of me wondered how old he was.

"How old are you anyway, Josh?" I was genuinely curious. "And would you be old enough to be a pedophile, anyway?" I swished my drink around, frowning at it, practically wishing it would fill up again.

"Nineteen," He said cheerfully. "Why? How old are you? You have to be a senior, I think."

"Actually, I'm a sophomore. I think this very well make you a pedophile, sir, now excuse me while I grab some candy out of your van." I said while yawning. My heart was panging every now and then for my family, but I was doing my best to avoid it. It was better not caring anyway. "I'm sixteen. And a half." I made sure to add the half in it, I was very proud of it, you know.

"I remember when I was sixteen! Man, I was so chick crazy then!" He laughed before noticing me, blushing then adding, "I mean, uh, _girl crazy. _Girl_."_ I rolled my eyes at him.

"Whatever, pedophile, I gotta go." I took my empty lipstick stained cup, and stood up, grabbing my bag I forgot I brought with me. I was too sad right now to not burst out crying in front of people, I didn't trust myself not to do it now, my voice was thick.

"Bye, Sunshine!" He called after me while making a gesture with his hands. I didn't know what it was until I checked in my bag two seconds later and saw a wad of paper with Josh written in neatly spaced letters with a phone number written below it. I rolled my eyes. "So classy."

I then looked around me noticing there was a bathroom right next to me. I pushed myself into the bathroom, doing a quick check before I burst into tears. My eyes watered and I was sniffling, then I was all out bawling in the bathroom, with my mascara and eyeliner running, I looked like a fucking raccoon.

But who wouldn't after this kind of week. Half my family was gone... just like that. Part of me was angry, the other part was sick, then finally, a mixture of nothing and sadness. I didn't know how to feel, I didn't know what to do, I did know, that what I was feeling wasn't healthy. The supreme guilt of killing both my mom and Todd, is almost too much to bear. My shoulders were heaving when I heard the flush of a toilet. I flinched, realizing that someone had heard me in my moment of weakness. A girl with long pretty raven black hair in a gray sweater and a jade green skirt that was fairly short, sauntered out of the bathroom. She looked at me while she began washing her hands. "Are you okay?"

I wiped my eyes, "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, though."

She dried her hands and walked so gracefully to the door it was like she was dancing, turned to me and said, "You're a terrible liar." Then she left, leaving me standing there, confused.

I blinked twice, confused before my cell phone began to ring, telling me I got a text. I pulled my phone out of my bag, I bit my lip, a new text from dad. _Come home soon._ I closed the phone without replying and glanced at the time. My eyes widened, It was already 4 o'clock.

I gathered my stuff, pulled on my sunglasses, and quickly exited the bathroom stall, nervous to start the first day of high school, to start it without my brother, and it hurts to finally know what it's like to have no one really care about you when half your family is dead and your father doesn't seem to care about anymore.


End file.
